New Bears general manager Ryan Pace made his first splash in the NFL's free-agent pool Monday. And if the final day of the 2014 league year was any indication, the team's transition to a 3-4 defense will make more waves in the days ahead.

The NFL's business season began with a bang. Several actually: trades, retirements and, yes, even some big free agent moves.
It wasn't until mid-evening Tuesday that the first huge star took advantage of free agency: Darrelle Revis returning to the...

Until the New York Jets landed Darrelle Revis, the first hours of NFL free agency Tuesday looked more like fantasy football.
Tr
Monster deals sending Jimmy Graham to Seattle and Sam Bradford to Philadelphia stole the spotlight from free agent signings....

Chip Kelly may be letting one veteran Eagles player go after another, but he does have a contingency plan in place and he has already gone about enacting it.
The Eagles have contracts in place with free agents Byron Maxwell and Frank Gore that would...

The lead-up to free agency opened Saturday with NFL teams and agents doing a familiar dance of gauging interest while working to get a handle on the marketplace.
One agent described it as a game of "peek-a-boo" while another who did high volume signings...

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When the checkbooks fly open on Tuesday, the bidding wars figure to be concentrated on receivers and defensive linemen.
Yet the most interesting position in free agency is running back.
As the NFL has evolved into a pass-prone league, the role of the ball carrier has diminished. Still, when the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, DeMarco Murray, and two other 1,000-yard rushers, Justin Forsett and Frank Gore, are on the block, it's impossible to overlook the position.
The key question: Which teams...

In balancing the goal to win now with building for the future, former Bears general manager Phil Emery said it was his duty working for the McCaskey family to strive for a championship every season.
Ownership signed off on the franchise's direction, and the Bears got progressively worse in a three-year stretch of 23 wins and 25 losses. They also got more free-agent-driven as drafts failed to supply enough starters in a division in which the primary competition, the Packers, is the most draft-driven team...

INDIANAPOLIS — As the Bears sort through the roster puzzle en route to free agency and the draft, it's about determining which piece best fills each specific need.
The first is going to affect the second, and agents who have met with the team at the NFL scouting combine here to discuss free agency have said the club's primary focus has been on finding players to stock a base 3-4 defense as the conversion begins for coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
As one agent wisecracked,...

This marks the Ravens' first game without middle linebacker Ray Lewis because of a torn right triceps tendon suffered against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Houston Texans have already endured a similar damaging blow, losing star linebacker Brian Cushing to a torn left anterior cruciate ligament on a low block by New York Jets offensive guard Matt Slauson.
During their first game without Cushing last week, the Texans lost, 42-24, to the Green Bay Packers as quarterback Aaron Rodgers delivered six touchdown...

When their offense lined up on 3rd down with 1:38 left Sunday, the Ravens were inches away from Foxborough, Mass. One short surge straight ahead and they were in the AFC championship game.
But when fullback Vonta Leach picked up no yards in a cloud of dust, the Ravens, whose offense struggled to move the ball after a fine first quarter, needed one final defensive stand to survive.
Houston Texans quarterback T.J. Yates heaved a Hail Mary in the final 20 seconds, but when his prayer hit the turf at M&T...